Maine bans boozy Santa beer label

A beer distributor says Maine is being a Scrooge by barring it from selling a beer with a label depicting Santa Claus enjoying a pint of brew.

In a complaint filed in federal court, Shelton Brothers accuses the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement of censorship for denying applications for labels for Santa’s Butt Winter Porter and two other beers it wants to sell in Maine.

The dispute recalls a similar squabble last year when Connecticut told Shelton Brothers it had problems with its Seriously Bad Elf ale.

The worst part of this story is not the censorship, as bad as it is, but the fact that the state specifically has to approve wine and beer labels.

The state reviews between 10,000 and 12,000 applications a year for beer and wine labels. It typically denies about a dozen a year because they contain inappropriate language or nudity, or might appeal to children, Fleming said.

“Basically, the standard we use is what are people going to see walking up and down a store aisle,” he said.

10,000 – 12,000 beer and wine labels! 12,000! This is what the states are using our money on, a bunch of stuffed shirts sitting around decided what is appropriate for people to see in a liquor store! To see if it appeals to children! How many children are handing out in a liquor store!

Santa Claus is not going to make eight year old start drinking.

Source: CNN